All of us in business know that we need to keep our customers. We want them to be repeat buyers. We want them to refer their friends and family. How do we get our customers to do these things? With powerfully excellent customer service.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Those two words are powerful.  Are you good at it?  Then you probably have a thriving businesses.  Are you struggling in this area?  Then I recommend that you step back and re-think what customer service really means in your company.  Even if you are good at providing customer service, could you do even better?

Below are some questions that we all should ask ourselves, our employees, and our customers in order to identify how well we are doing in the area of customer service.

Questions for Ourselves:

1. Do we have repeat customers? Why?

2. If we sell a product that allows us to keep a customer over a long period of time, what is our retention of our customers?

3. Do we ever ask our customers how they feel about our service?

Questions for our Employees:

1. Do you like your job?

   • If yes – why?

   • If no – why? (If they don’t like their job, they are not going to provide excellent customer service.)

2. Do you like your interactions with the customers?

3. Do you hear any common complaints from customers?

4. How can we improve our customer service?

Questions for our Customers:

1. Why did you choose us to do business with?

2. How was your experience with us?

3. What could we have done better?

One of the biggest mistakes companies make is treating customers like they are easily replaceable.  Instead, we should be treating each customer like a precious jewel.  If we treat our customers with the attitude “If we lose them, we can always find another”, then we will eventually be out of business.  There may be more customers out there, but eventually your reputation will precede you.

Most of us know that diamonds are rare and expensive.  Rarely do you or I find one alongside the road.  We have to save up money, take our time shopping for just the right cut, color and clarity. Then, we make the purchase.  Once it is made, we mount it in a ring, insure it and pay attention to maintaining it.  In fact, many diamond rings are so valuable they are passed on to the next generation for their enjoyment and appreciation.

Take time to invest in the customer relationships in your business just like you would picking out a diamond ring.

Don’t make the mistake of making the sale and moving on to the next. Happy customers are repeat customers that also give good referrals.

This Thursday, on September 24th, Ron Johnson will be joining me on the iWork4Him radio show to talk about his book “Customer Service and the Imitation of Christ”. This is a powerful book on how to treat your customers from the perspective of a call center manager. Make sure you tune in. In Tampa Bay WTBN 570 & 910 AM or on iHeartRadio 3:00 p.m.